How To Write A Good TEFL Lesson Plan

As a English as a foreign language teacher, you will find that planning your TEFL lessons is half of your job. Whether you are teaching a grammar lesson or a skills lessons, it is necessary to think carefully about the best way to present the language and content to your EFL students.

Traditionally, on TEFL courses you are taught to plan and execute your lessons according to the Presentation, Practice and Production – or PPP – methodology. There is nothing wrong with this way of carrying out an EFL lesson, but there are other ways to go about it.

The different ways of constructing a TEFL lesson plan are all similar in some respects, so it actually isn’t necessary to follow any one method, but instead you can create your own path through the lesson, as long as there are clear aims and these are achieved.

Read more: PPP In The EFL Classroom

Writing a lesson plan can seem simple, but it is very easy to become overwhelmed. There are an endless number of ways to carry out an EFL lesson and it can take discipline and careful thought to choose from all the different options.

But first, let’s talk about what makes a good TEFL lesson plan.

What makes a good TEFL lesson plan?

A TEFL lesson plan needs to include a number of different elements:

• Aims
• Target language (including board plan)
• Stages
• Timings
• Interactions – inidividual, pairwork, groupwork, open class
• Activities
• Materials and resources
• Anticipated problems

Read more: The Importance Of A Lesson Plan

How do you write an EFL lesson plan?

How you write your lesson plan down is totally up to you. After all, it’s your lesson!

Many teachers simply follow the tried-and-trusted PPP lesson plan structure, but there are a number of others you can try:

• ARC – Authentic use, Restricted use, Clarification and Focus
• TTT – Test, Teach, Test
• TBL – Task-Based Learning
• ESA – Engage, Study, Activate

All these methods of writing a TEFL lesson plan work, as long as the plan is logical, straightforward and clear.

But what if we told you there is an easy way to write a TEFL lesson, using just three simple steps.

An easy way to write a TEFL lesson plan

1) Pre-task

Whatever the focus of the lesson may be, there needs to be an opportunity to introduce the context. This allows your students to become involved in the topic while at the same time tuning their brains in to the fact that they are about to learn English. This does not necessarily have to relate to the language in focus, but rather on the topic relating to the language point.

2) Task

Now’s the time to do the task. If you are doing a grammar lesson, focus on the relevant context and use the time to look at language form and function. If you are doing a skills lesson, bring in the relevant text needed and spend time on clarification and other questions.

3) Post-task

Once the language matters have been dealt with, it’s important for the students to be able to respond to the task in an authentic and genuine way. This brings us full-circle back to the beginning of the lesson where students started thinking about the context, and now the students must respond in a personal way to the topic.

So, to answer the question: How to create the perfect EFL lesson plan? Just follow this very simple three-step process.

Though you may not be focussing on one particular EFL methodology, you are still incorporating the ideas behind them.

At the same time you have given yourself a clear task so that you will be able to plan lessons like this quickly and easily.

You will find that this lesson plan template is flexible and can be used for many different lessons, so it will help cut down on your lesson planning.